Cable drive device for an endless cable installation

ABSTRACT

This disclosure concerns a device for driving a carriage along a rail by means of an endless aerial cable. The cable has a plurality of stops mounted thereon and is stretched between two pulleys, each having a pneumatic outer surface. The first pneumatic surface engages the carriage to synchronize the speed of the carriage with the endless cable.

United States Patent Jean Pornagliski inventor 114 Avenue de I'Eygaln, 38 La Tronche,

France Appl. No. 751,505 Filed Aug. 9, 1968 Patented Aug. 3, 1971 Priority Aug. 11, 1967 France CABLE DRIVE DEVICE FOR AN ENDLESS CABLE INSTALLATION 6 ClalnmS Drawing Figs.

U.S.C|. 104/178, 104/112, 104/168, 104/173 lnt.Cl. 1361b 9/00 Field 0! Search 104/173,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,243,538 5/1941 Salisberg 74/230.7 2,882,738 4/1959 Camenzind.... 74/230.7 3,391,650 7/1968 Goforth 104/173 3,429,279 2/1969 Pomagalski 104/173 FOREIGN PATENTS 478,447 2/1953 ltaly 104/112 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman Assistant Examiner-Robert Saifer Attorneys-Robert E. Burns and Emmanuel J. Lobato ABSTRACT: This disclosure concerns a device for driving a carriage along a rail by means of an endless aerial cable. The cable has a plurality of stops mounted thereon and is stretched between two pulleys, each having a pneumatic outer surface. The first pneumatic surface engages the carriage to synchronize the speed of the carriage with the endless cable.

PATENTEUAm; 3m: 3,596.60.

INVENTOR.

JEAN POMAGALSKI CABLE DRIVE DEVICE FOR AN ENDLESS CABLE INSTALLATION This invention relates to a device for driving loads suspended to a carriage rolling along a fixed supporting guide path for a cable car installation, such as a funicular railway or a ski lift. The device comprises an endless cable which moves along a closed path which defines the path of travel of the carriage and to which the carriage can be temporarily attached.

In such an installation, the driving cable is generally given a continuous movement and the loads are clutched on and unclutched from the cable. To allow them to be clutched they must be previously brought to the speed of the cable, and the loads must also be moved along garage ways or maneuvering ways at a slow speed and taken into charge after their disconnection from the aerial cable and their deceleration. However, conventional devices for handling the loads such as by chains, belts or endless cables, to which the loads are temporarily connected, result in structure which are complicated, costly and noisy.

This invention has for its purpose the avoidance of these drawbacks by means of a device which is particularly simple and strong.

According to a first modification of such an installation the said endless cable passes around the outer pneumatic surface of at least one pulley positioned at the entrance of a path, and the said cable and carriage have cooperating means which ensure the coupling of the carriage to the cable and its driving along the said path. in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pneumatic surface at the entrance of said path cooperates with a frictional surface on said carriage on one side in side in such a way as to synchronize the moving speed of said carriage and that of said cable before coupling to the latter.

The endless cable no longer supports the coupling impact of the load but ensures only the upkeep of the movement thereof and accordingly can be small. The bending of the rolling stirface provides a smooth passage of the load and the bending stress of the pneumatic pulley is advantageously used to give a position to the cable which is appropriate to the later coupling. The use of a pneumatic pulley also allows the presence of stop means projecting to engage the pneumatic rolling surface without causing breakage of the cable during its passage, about the pulley the stop serving to couple the carriage.

According to a second modification, movement is directly derived from a moving cable. It is known to efiect a movement take up by a grooved roller which engages the moving cable, but these devices cause wear to the cable and the roller, in particular in case of a misalignment.

The take up device according to the present invention is characterized by the fact that said cable is engaged frictionally by the rolling surface of a pneumatic roller which is applied against it and is thus frictionally driven at a peripheral speed equal to the speed of movement of the cable. Such a device is particularly advantageous in an aerial cable transport installation such as above described in which the assembly of the movement is derived directly from the main cable. A perfect synchronization of all movement of handling, launching, transport, etc., is thus automatically obtained.

According to a third modification, the transmission of movement is effected by an endless cable stretched between two pulleys at least one of which is equipped with a pneumatic tire, said cable passing around the rolling band of the said tire. Preferably this cable transmission is carried out in combination with the previously mentioned devices wherein, for example, the same pneumatic tire effects the takeup movement and the transmission of this movement.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear from the description of several embodiments thereof given by way of nonlimiting examples and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

supported by two pulleys each equipped with'a pneumatic tire,

the charge being represented at the load end of the driving P FIG. 2 is a plan view of HG. l;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along line lll-lll of H6. 1;

FIG. 4 shows from the front a device for taking movement from a driven cable;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of FIG. 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a carriage l0 equipped with rollers l2 and 14 moves along a supporting guide way constituted by a fixed rail 16 in a loading or unloading station of an aerial transport installation having a continuously moving cable. Carriage 10 can be integral with a car or the cabin of an aerial railway or of a transport device for some load which is clutched on the continuous moving cable. This cable can be simplepulling or towing cable wherein the carriage rolls on-a carrying cable, or rail system the cable being for both carrying and pulling. In the loading and unloading stations, carriage 10 is disconnected in a usual manner from the moving cable and taken into charge by rail l6 in order to make possible its stopping, its unloading or loading and its guiding towards the incoming'or outgoing paths. The upper side of carriage 10 has a groove 17 of a width corresponding to the diameter of an endless cable 18 supported by two pulleys with rims 20, 22, each equipped with an inflatable pneumatic tire 24, 26. Pulleys 20, 22 are freely mounted on shafts 28, 30 and endless cable 18 is stretched between these pulleys 20, 22 to where its lower parts follow a trajectory parallel to rail 16. The length of cable 18 relative to the spacing of pulleys 20,22 is such that it becomes inlaid in tires 24, 26 by generating therein a small deformation in the shape of grooves 32, 32' (FIG. 2). The tension of cable 18in adjustable'by varying the inflation pressure of the tire and possible accidental strctchings can be compensated by simply increasing this pressure if care has been taken at the onset to make it relatively small. On cable 18 are secured at regular intervals stops 34 which are able to contact the front edge of groove -17 provided on carriage 10 when cable 18 is inserted therein. in order that stops 34 do not have a tendency to slide on the edge of groove 17 by extracting the cable 18 therefrom, this edge preferably has a contact surface which is slightly inclined and which pushes cable 18 toward the bottom of the groove. The upper side of carriage 10, provided with groove 17, comprises a frictional bearing surface 25 cooperating with the tire 26 at the moment the carriage 10 passes perpendicularly thereto, which tends to synchronize automatically the speed of movement of carriage 10 on rail 16 with the peripheral speed of tire 26, which is equal to that of cable 18. Thus, the tire 26 pushes cable 18 into groove 17 in which it is maintained during the entire path between the two tires 24 and 26, on the one hand, under the stress exerted by the tires and on the other hand by the force of stop 34 coming into contact with the inclined front edge of groove 17 as soon as carriage 10 leaves tire 26 and is driven by stops 34.

It should be noted that stops 34 and cable 18 only ensure the upkeep of the movement of carriage l0 and accordingly only have to provide a small force, the force of synchronizing the movements being taken up by the tire 26. Cable 18 is guided by carriage 10 itself, but to ensure a foolproof alignment of cable 18 at the entrance of groove 17, there may be provided a guide (not shown) at the entrance of pulley 22. The flexibility of the tire makes possible a smooth passage of carriage 10 and of stops 34 on the pulley, without imposing to cable 18 exaggerating bending stresses which might occasion its breakage.

The driving device, as it has been described, is advantageously put into movement by calling upon one or eventually two tires 24, 26 the rolling surfaces of which cooperates for this purpose with a friction wheel 36, in the manner described in French Patent application 5095 (lsere) filed on Apr. 18, 1967, in the name of the applicant or in the first addition to that application, No. 109028, filed June 2nd, 1967.

This transmission is useful when the driving device of the invention is made to move in loading and unloading stations wherein carriages are propelled along maneuvering or garage rails. A free wheel can be inserted in the mechanism when the device is used for decelerating loads.

According to another improvement, in accord with the present invention, the movement of the several driving devices is derived directly from the movement of the aerial cable of the transport installation instead of being provided by independent motors, it being understood that this derivation does not take place directly from the motor which moves this cable but that it takes place on the cable itself and more particularly that this derivation is effected by means of an inflated tire bearing against the aerial cable.

Such a direct movement take up device on a cable is more particularly shown in H68. 4 and 5. Cable 40 which can be the aerial cable of the installation is disposed in contact with the tire 42 mounted on a rim 44 turning freely on a shaft 46. The tire 42 is positioned to exert pressure on cable 40 which deforms the tire in the shape of a groove gripping cable 40. According to the forces to be transmitted, cable 40 must engage the roller 42 along the arc of a large circle. Tire 42 advantageously serves as a return pulley which is always present in such installations. It is easy to see that the cable 40 turns tire 42 at a speed which is adjustable by a simple variation in the pressure of the tire.

Transfer of the rotational movement taken from cable 40 by tire 42 to friction wheel 36 can be effected by various transmission means, but, preferably, there is provided a small transmission cable for cooperation with the tires. According to the preferred device, tire 42 also drives the small cable 48 for the transmission of the movement (FIG. 5). This small cable 48 passes on a second tire 50 which is fixed to and coaxial with the friction wheel 36. Small cable 48 is in a plane which is slightly offset with respect to that of the main cable 40. Naturally, if a reduction is not required the small cable 48 cooperates directly with tire 26 which drives cable 18 which simplifies still further the installation.

Small plates 52, 54 advantageously are positioned laterally to the small cable 48 at the front of the pneumatic device 42 to ensure the lateral guiding thereof.

The driving device according to the present invention functions in the following manner:

Cable 40 of the aerial cable transport installation, for example, a ski lift and driven continuously and rotates the pulley with tire 42, which transmits the movement to a second pulley with tire 50 to a small cable 48 stretched between the two pulleys and passing on the rolling surfaces of tire 42, 50. The tension of small cable 48 is adjustable by varying the inflation of the tires. The pulley with tire 50, fixed to the friction wheel 36 which is in contact with the rolling surface of tire 26 then rotates the latter in the manner described in applicant's patent application previously mentioned. The cable 18 stretched between pulleys 26 and 24 driven with a continuous movement at a reduced speed dependent upon the diameter of wheel 36 with respect to that of tire 26. Naturally, a second reduction can be obtained by using pulleys which have tires 42, 50 which have different diameters. A carriage carrying, for example, a car and moving along rail 16, after having been disconnected from the main cable 40, engages under tire 26 which by rubbing against the bearing surface of the carriage imposes thereto a speed equal to that of cable 18 or in case of the use of a free wheel, accelerates cable 18 to the speed of carriage l0. Simultaneously, cable 18 is pushed by tire 26 into groove 17 provided on the bearing surface of carriage l0 and next one of the stops 34 positively couples the carriage 10 to cable 18. This coupling gives to carriage l0 a speed of movement which is synchronized to that of the main cable 40 along the entire path of rail 16 facing cable 18.

At the end of the path, cable 18 automatically comes out of groove 17 and disconnects carriage 10.

Such an installation has a simplicity and flexibility of operation which is remarkable and is particularly adapted for continuous operation. The loading and unloading of the cabin takes place in this case during the slow movement thereof along rail 16. At the end of the loading phase, the cabin is taken over by an accelerating device, for example, operating by gravity or by positive driving possibly the same type, with cable and pneumatic rollers illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 2 and coupled to cable 40. Before this coupling the synchronization can be improved by a tire (not shown) deriving its movement from the main cable 40 itself, in the manner above described and transmitting this movement to carriage 10 by cooperating with the frictional surface thereof. All these driving devices derive their movement from the aerial cable which simplifies the entire installation and imposes a perfect synchronization. It should be noted that the adjacent cabins during their movement of a slow speed on rail 16 are automatically spaced from cable 40 owing to their synchronized speed on this path.

The combination of cables and pulleys with tires according to the present invention automatically resolves the difficult problem of spinning and guiding of the cable. The conventional grooved pulley requires a very precise adjustment of the incoming portion of the cable into the center of the groove, failing which this pulley by turning had a tendency to cause the cable to roll toward the center of the groove which caused spinning of the cable and wear of the grooves to the cable and possible sticking to the cable. When the grooved pulley is replaced by a tire according to the present invention, no spinning of the cable is to be feared even if as a result of poor adjustment or maladjustment, the cable does not roll in the center of the tire. The bending of the tire always causes at the moment of impact slight frictional movements which are rigorously symmetrical relative to the axis of the cable owing to the penetration of the cable into the tire. This tendency to spin is further decreased by providing a smooth rolling surface on the tire. The bending is then perfectly symmetrical regardless of the position of the contact point upon the tire. It is because of this characteristic of the tire-equipped pulley that the direct movement take up from the cable is made possible without causing undue wear thereto.

The invention is evidently unlimited to the particular means described and envisaged by way of example and it must be understood that the scope of the present invention extends to modifications of all or part of the described arrangements which remain within the field of equivalents. it is in no way limited to the particularly described application of an installation to an aerial cable but extends to all motion transmitting devices to which the different improvements described can be applied singly or in combination.

lclaim:

1. An aerial transport assembly, comprising a fixed supporting guideway, a carriage having wheels connected thereto and being received on said guideway for rolling movement therealong, a pair of spaced pulley means, means mounting said pair of pulley means for rotational movement, a movable endless cable extending between and over said first and second pulley means and having a portion thereof disposed in parallel with a portion of said guideway, and projecting means on said cable for engaging and coupling said carriage to said cable from said first pulley means to said second pulley means, said first pulley means having inflatable rolling surface means for engaging said carriage to synchronize the speeds of said carriage and cable prior to said coupling of said carriage to said cable.

2. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which said carriage has groove means therein for receiving said cable and projecting means, and said inflatable rolling surface means comprises means for pressing said cable and stop into said groove means.

3. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said inflatable rolling surface means comprises a first inflated tire, and said cable is received over a portion of the periphery of said tire for movement therewith.

4. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 3 further comprising a driven aerial cable, and means for coupling movement of said driven aerial cable to one of said first and second pulley means.

5. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 4, in which said second pulley means includes a rotatably mounted second inflated tire, and said endless cable is received over a portion of the periphery of said second tire for movement and second pulley means in a spaced relation, an endless cable received for movement over said pulley means and having a portion thereof disposed in parallel with a portion of said guideway means. and projecting means on' said cable for engaging and coupling said carriage to said cable along said guideway means from said first pulley means to said second pulley means, said first pulley means including inflated tire means for said reception of said cable and for engaging the carriage for controlling its movement at the time of engagement of the carriage by said projecting means on said cable. 

1. An aerial transport assembly, comprising a fixed supporting guideway, a carriage having wheels connected thereto and being received on said guideway for rolling movement therealong, a pair of spaced pulley means, means mounting said pair of pulley means for rotational movement, a movable endless cable extending between and over said first and second pulley means and having a portion thereof disposed in parallel with a portion of said guideway, and projecting means on said cable for engaging and coupling said carriage to said cable from said first pulley means to said second pulley means, said first pulley means having inflatable rolling surface means for engaging said carriage to synchronize the speeds of said carriage and cable prior to said coupling of said carriage to said cable.
 2. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which said carriage has groove means therein for receiving said cable and projecting means, and said inflatable rolling surface means comprises means for pressing said cable and stop into said groove means.
 3. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which said inflatable rolling surface means comprises a first inflated tire, and said cable is received over a portion of the periphery of said tire for movement therewith.
 4. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 3 further comprising a driven aerial cable, and means for coupling movement of said driven aerial cable to one of said first and second pulley means.
 5. An aerial transport assembly as set forth in claim 4, in which said second pulley means includes a rotatably mounted second inflated tire, and said endless cable is received over a portion of the periphery of said second tire for movement therewith, whereby said endless cable is supported for movement by said first and second tires.
 6. A driving control device for a carriage comprising, elongated guideway means for supporting a carriage for movement longitudinally with respect to said guideway means, first and second pulley means, means for rotatably mounting said first and second pulley means in a spaced relation, an endless cable received for movement over said pulley means and having a portion thereof disposed in parallel with a portion of said guideway means, and projecting means on said cable for engaging and coupling said carriage to said cable along said guideway means from said first pulley means to said second pulley means, said first pulley means including inflated tire means for said reception of said cable and for engaging the carriage for controlling its movement at the time of engagement of the carriage by said projecting means on said cable. 